Record Store Day keeps vinyl spinning for music fans

Dawn Renton

On Saturday (April 16) record stores across Scotland will unite together to celebrate the beauty of vinyl for Record Store Day 2016.

Stores will be besieged by music fans as over 250 labels are set to release limited edition records for the ninth annual event.

Among this year’s releases, labels are choosing to put new music at the forefront of their offerings, with new material from artists such as Foals, Primal Scream and Bastille all joining the list.

Major label acts also add weight to the Record Store Day list and among the releases this year which might appeal to a younger generation of vinyl fans are acts such as James Bay, Florence and the Machine and Hozier.

This year sees heavy rock superstars Metallica lend their support as 2016’s Record Store Day ambassadors.

Lars Ulrich, the band’s drummer, said: “Independent record stores are part of Metallica’s DNA. They have been pivotal in shaping each one of us into the music fanatics we’ve all become.

“We could not be any prouder to be Record Store Day Ambassadors for 2016 and are looking forward to screaming from every rooftop the next few months about everything independent record store and beyond.”

Throughout Record Store Day’s near-decade lifespan, Metallica’s support has been more than noteworthy with in-store appearances, (in 2008, when the band met their fans for hours to kick off the very first Record Store Day).

Following the tragic events in Paris last November, the band’s official release this year will fit into a wider theme of Record Store Day 2016. Metallica will release ‘Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, Metallica! – Live at Le Bataclan. Paris, France’.

The CD features a live performance recorded at the club on June 11, 2003 featuring hits including ‘The Four Horsemen’, ‘Leper Messiah’, ‘No Remorse’, ‘Fade To Black’, ‘Frantic’, ‘Ride The Lightning’, ‘Blackened’, ‘Seek & Destroy,’ and ‘Damage, INC’.

Metallica, Record Store Day and independent record stores will donate the proceeds to the Foundation de France’s Give For France charity.

For more information and to find your local participating store, click here record store day.